3. Sura al-Imran

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

لاَ يَغُرَّنَّكَ تَقَلُّبُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ فِي الْبِلاَدِ ﴿١٩٦﴾

3: 196. Let not the strutting about of the unbelievers through the land deceive thee:

مَتَاعٌ قَلِيلٌ ثُمَّ مَأْوَاهُمْ جَهَنَّمُ وَبِئْسَ الْمِهَادُ ﴿١٩٧﴾

3: 197. Little is it for enjoyment; their ultimate abode is Hell:

what an evil bed (to lie on)!

Other versions:

3: 196 [al-Imran, Medina 89 ]

Asad Let it not deceive thee that those who are bent on denying the truth seen to be able to do as they please on earth:

Yusuf Ali Let not the strutting about of the unbelievers through the land deceive thee:

Pickthall Let not the vicissitude (of the success) of those who disbelieve, in the land, deceive thee (O Muhammad).

Transliteration La_ yagurrannaka taqallubul lazina kafaru_ fil bila_d(i).

3: 197

Asad it is [but ] a brief enjoyment, with hell thereafter as their goal - and how vile a resting place!

Yusuf Ali Little is it for enjoyment; their ultimate abode is Hell: what an evil bed (to lie on)!

Pickthall It is but a brief comfort. And afterward their habitation will be hell, an ill abode.

Transliteration Mata_'un qalil(un), summa ma'wa_hum jahannam(u), wa bi'sal miha_d(u).

18.Surah Al Kahf

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

وَعَرَضْنَا جَهَنَّمَ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِّلْكَافِرِينَ عَرْضًا ﴿١٠٠﴾

18: 100. And We shall present Hell that day for Unbelievers to see, all spread out --

C2446. If men had scoffed at Faith and the Hereafter, their eyes will be opened now, and they will see the terrible Reality.

الَّذِينَ كَانَتْ أَعْيُنُهُمْ فِي غِطَاء عَن ذِكْرِي...   

18: 101. (Unbelievers) whose eyes had been under a veil from Remembrance of Me,

... وَكَانُوا لَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ سَمْعًا ﴿١٠١﴾

and who had been unable even to hear.

C2447. Those very men who refused to see the many Signs of Allah which in this world convey His Message and to hear the Word of the Lord when it came to them, will then see without any mistake the consequences fully brought up before them.

Section 12

أَفَحَسِبَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا أَن يَتَّخِذُوا عِبَادِي مِن دُونِي أَوْلِيَاء...   

18: 102. Do the Unbelievers think that they can take my servants as protectors besides Me?

... إِنَّا أَعْتَدْنَا جَهَنَّمَ لِلْكَافِرِينَ نُزُلًا ﴿١٠٢﴾

Verily We have prepared Hell for the Unbelievers for (their) entertainment.

قُلْ هَلْ نُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِالْأَخْسَرِينَ أَعْمَالًا ﴿١٠٣﴾

18: 103. Say:

"Shall we tell you of those who lose most in respect of their deeds? --

C2448. That is, those who prided themselves on their works in this life, and now find that those works are of no avail. Their loss is all the greater because they had a misplaced confidence in their own deeds or in the assistance of false "protectors".

Allah is the only Protector: no one else's protection is of any use.

الَّذِينَ ضَلَّ سَعْيُهُمْ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَهُمْ يَحْسَبُونَ أَنَّهُمْ يُحْسِنُونَ صُنْعًا ﴿١٠٤﴾

18: 104. "Those whose efforts have been wasted in this life, while they thought that they were acquiring good by their works?"

C2449. Many people have such a smug sense of self-righteousness that while they go on doing wrong, they think that they are acquiring merit.

So, in charity, all the elements that make for outward show or selfishness (as to get some worldly advantage) nullify the deed of charity.

In the same way hypocrites sometimes affect to be surprised that their declared effort for somebody's good is not appreciated, when they are really seeking some hidden gain or false glory for themselves.

The sincere are only those who believe in their spiritual responsibility and act as in Allah's sight.

أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِآيَاتِ رَبِّهِمْ وَلِقَائِهِ فَحَبِطَتْ أَعْمَالُهُمْ...   

18: 105. They are those who deny the Signs of their Lord and the fact of their having to meet Him (in the Hereafter):

vain will be their works,

... فَلَا نُقِيمُ لَهُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَزْنًا ﴿١٠٥﴾

nor shall We, on the Day of Judgment, give them any Weight.

C2450. What weight can be attached to works behind which the motives are not pure, or are positively evil?

They are either wasted or count against those who seek to pass them off as meritorious!

ذَلِكَ جَزَاؤُهُمْ جَهَنَّمُ بِمَا كَفَرُوا وَاتَّخَذُوا آيَاتِي وَرُسُلِي هُزُوًا ﴿١٠٦﴾

18: 106. That is their reward, Hell; because they rejected Faith, and took My Signs and My Messengers by way of jest.

C2451. False motives, pretence, deception, and hypocrisy, flourish because people do not take the higher life seriously. In effect they treat it as a jest. Signs and Messengers are sent as a special and personal Mercy from Allah, and for such things the first person singular is used as in this verse, even when it involves a sudden transition from the first person plural as in the last verse.

Other versions:

18:100

18:101

18:102

18:103

18:104

18:105

18:106

20 Sura Taha

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

كَذَلِكَ نَقُصُّ عَلَيْكَ مِنْ أَنبَاء مَا قَدْ سَبَقَ...   

20: 99. for We have sent thee a Message from Our own Presence.

...وَقَدْ آتَيْنَاكَ مِن لَّدُنَّا ذِكْرًا ﴿٩٩﴾

for We have sent thee a Message from Our own Presence.

C2625. Thus superseding previous revelations; for this (the Quran) is direct from Allah, and is not a second-hand exposition on other men's authority.

مَنْ أَعْرَضَ عَنْهُ فَإِنَّهُ يَحْمِلُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وِزْرًا ﴿١٠٠﴾

20: 100. If any do turn away therefrom, verily they will bear a burden on the Day of Judgement;

خَالِدِينَ فِيهِ...   

20: 101. They will abide in this (state):

...وَسَاء لَهُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ حِمْلًا ﴿١٠١﴾

and grievous will the burden be to them on that Day --

C2626. Cf. 6:31.

If people are so immersed in the evanescent falsehoods of this life as to turn away from the True and the Eternal, they will have a rude awakening when the Judgment comes. These very things that they thought so enjoyable here;-

-         taking advantage of others,

-         material self-indulgence,

-         nursing grievances instead of doing good, etc., -

will be a grievous burden to them that day, which they will not be able to escape or lighten.

يَوْمَ يُنفَخُ فِي الصُّورِ...   

20: 102. The Day when the Trumpet will be sounded:

...وَنَحْشُرُ الْمُجْرِمِينَ يَوْمَئِذٍ زُرْقًا ﴿١٠٢﴾

that Day, We shall gather the sinful, blear-eyed (with terror),

C2627. Zurqa:

-        having eyes different from the normal colour, which in the East is black and white;

-         having blue eyes,

-         or eyes afflicted with dimness or blindness, or squint;

hence metaphorically, blear-eyed (with terror).

يَتَخَافَتُونَ بَيْنَهُمْ إِن لَّبِثْتُمْ إِلَّا عَشْرًا ﴿١٠٣﴾

20: 103. In whispers will they consult each other:

"Ye tarried not longer than ten (Days);"

C2628. Faced with eternity they will realise that their life on this earth, or the interval between their sin and their punishment, had a duration which practically amounted to nothing.

They express this by the phrase "ten days", but their wiser heads think that even this is an over-estimate. It was but a brief day!

نَحْنُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا يَقُولُونَ...   

20: 104. We know best what they will say,

...إِذْ يَقُولُ أَمْثَلُهُمْ طَرِيقَةً إِن لَّبِثْتُمْ إِلَّا يَوْمًا ﴿١٠٤﴾

when their leader most eminent in Conduct will say: "Ye tarried not longer than a day!"

C2629. Cf. 20:63 and n. 2587.

Note that it is the shrewdest and most versed in Life who will say this, because they will be the first to see the true situation.

Other versions:

20:99

THUS DO WE relate unto thee some of the stories of what happened in the past; and [thus]

have We vouchsafed unto thee, out of Our grace, a reminder. 85

20:100

All who shall turn away from it will, verily, bear a [heavy] burden on the Day of Resurrection:

(20:101) they will abide in this [state], and grievous for them will be the weight [of that burden] on the Day of Resurrection –

(20:102) on the Day when the trumpet is blown: for on that Day We will assemble all such as had been lost in sin, their eyes dimmed 86 [by terror],

(20:103) whispering unto one another, "You have spent but ten [days on earth]...." 87

(20:104)

[But] We know best 88 what they will be saying when the most perceptive of them shall say,

"You have spent [there] but one day!"

67. Sura al-Mulk

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

وَلِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِرَبِّهِمْ ...

67:6.    For those who reject their Lord (and Cherisher) ...

C5563. We have seen how the fire in the stars can suggest the beauty and order of the external world-, and yet, when it meets with resistance and disharmony, it can burn and destroy. So in the moral and spiritual world. What can be a greater sign of evil, disharmony, and rebellion than to reject the Cherisher and Sustainer, on Whom our life depends, and from Whom we receive nothing but goodness?

The Punishment, then, is Fire in its fiercest intensity, as typified in the next two verses.

... عَذَابُ جَهَنَّمَ وَبِئْسَ الْمَصِيرُ ﴿٦﴾

... is the Penalty of Hell: and evil is (such) destination.

إِذَا أُلْقُوا فِيهَا سَمِعُوا لَهَا شَهِيقًا وَهِيَ تَفُورُ ﴿٧﴾

67: 7.    When they are cast therein, they will hear the (terrible) drawing in of its breath even as it blazes forth.

C5564. For shahiq see n. 1607 to 11:106.

There shahiq (sobs) was contrasted with zafir (sighs): in the one case it is the drawing in of breath, and in the other the emission of a deep breath. Here the latter process is represented by the verb fara, to swell, to blaze forth, to gush forth.

In 11:40, the verb fara was applied to the gushing forth of the waters of the Flood; here the verb is applied to the blazing forth of the Fire of Punishment. Fire is personified: in its in-take it has a fierce appetite; in the flames which it throws out, it has a fierce aggressiveness. And yet in ultimate result evil meets the same fate, whether typified by water or fire.

تَكَادُ تَمَيَّزُ مِنَ الْغَيْظِ ...

67: 8.    Almost bursting with fury:

... كُلَّمَا أُلْقِيَ فِيهَا فَوْجٌ سَأَلَهُمْ خَزَنَتُهَا أَلَمْ يَأْتِكُمْ نَذِيرٌ ﴿٨﴾

every time a Group is cast therein, its Keepers will ask,

"Did no Warner come to you?"

C5565. Cf. 39:71, and n. 4348.

"Every time": it may not be the same angels who are guarding the gates of Hell every time new inmates come in. The pure, innocent angel nature does not know the crookedness of human evil, and is surprised at so many human beings coming in for punishment: it wonders if no warning was conveyed to men, whereas in fact men have a seaming in Clear Signs during all the period of their probation. The Clear Signs come from Revelation, from their own conscience, and from all nature around them.

قَالُوا بَلَى قَدْ جَاءنَا نَذِيرٌ فَكَذَّبْنَا وَقُلْنَا مَا نَزَّلَ اللَّهُ مِن شَيْءٍ ...

67: 9.    They will say:

"Yes indeed: a Warner did come to us, but we rejected him and said, '

Allah never sent down any (Message):

إِنْ أَنتُمْ إِلَّا فِي ضَلَالٍ كَبِيرٍ ﴿٩﴾

ye are in nothing but an egregious delusion!' "

C5566. Allah's Signs were not only rejected or defied, but their very existence was denied.

Nay, more, even their possibility was denied, and alas! righteous people and Prophets were persecuted or mocked (36:30). They were called fools or madmen, or men under a delusion!

وَقَالُوا لَوْ كُنَّا نَسْمَعُ أَوْ نَعْقِلُ مَا كُنَّا فِي أَصْحَابِ السَّعِيرِ ﴿١٠﴾

67: 10.  They will further say:

"Had we but listened or used our intelligence, we should not (now) be among the Companions of the Blazing Fire!"

C5567. Man has himself the power given to him to distinguish good from evil, and he is further helped by the teachings of the great Messengers or World Teachers. Where such Teachers do not come into personal contact with an individual or a generation, the true meaning of their teaching can be understood by means of the Reason which Allah has given to every human soul to judge by. It is failure to follow a man's light sincerely that leads to his degradation and destruction.

فَاعْتَرَفُوا بِذَنبِهِمْ ...

67: 11.  They will then confess their sins:

C5568. They will then have passed through the fire of Judgment and will now be in the fire of Punishment. The Reality will not only now be clear to them, but after the questionings of the angels they cannot even pretend to make any excuses. They will freely confess, but that is not repentance, for repentance implies amendment, and the time for repentance and amendment will have long been past.

... فَسُحْقًا لِّأَصْحَابِ السَّعِيرِ ﴿١١﴾

but far will be (Forgiveness) from the Companions of the Blazing Fire!

Asad’s Version:

(67:6) for, suffering in hell awaits all who are [thus] bent on blaspheming against their Sustainer: 6 and how vile a journey's end!

67:7 When they are cast into that [hell], they will hear its breath indrawing as it boils up,

(67:8) well-nigh bursting with fury; [and] every time a host [of such sinners] is flung into it, its keepers will ask them, "Has no warner ever come to you?"

(67:9) They will reply: "Yea, a warner did indeed come unto us, but we gave him the lie and said, 'Never has God sent down anything [by way of revelation] ! You [self-styled warners] are but lost in a great delusion!" 7

67:10 And they will add: "Had we but listened [to those warnings], or [at least] used our own reason, we would not [now] be among those who are destined for the blazing flame!""

(67:11) Thus will they come to realize their sins: but [by that time,] remote will have become all good from those who are destined for the blazing flame.

[[Asad’s notes - 6 I.e., by presuming to know what will happen in the future - a knowledge which rests with God alone. This connects with the statement in verse 4 that man can never truly unravel the mysteries of cosmic space ("the heavens"), which in its turn implies that he should not presume to foretell terrestrial events from the position and the aspects of the stars. Since only God knows "that which is beyond the reach of a created being's perception" (al-ghayb), any such attempt is a blasphemy (kufr).

7 Lit., "You are in nothing but a great error (dalal)" - thus denying the reality of divine revelation as such. ]]